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McConnell to Step Down as GOP Senate Leader; Hunter Biden Testifies in Impeachment Inquiry; Texas Wildfire Devastates Communities; Alabama IVF Ruling Sparks Protests; Uvalde School Massacre Investigation Continues; NYC Mayor Proposes Immigration Policy Shift. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 28, 2024 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Stepping down, Senator Mitch McConnell says he will step aside as Republican leader in November. We're going to have more on this Washington shakeup, all of it live from Capitol Hill. And more developing news off the hill. Hunter Biden, the president's son in the hot seat, what he's being grilled about by lawmakers behind closed doors in the impeachment investigation into his father.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And this massive wildfire burning out of control in Texas, flames tearing through homes, residents being forced to evacuate, too. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: It is the end of an era on Capitol Hill. Senator Mitch McConnell says he will step down as the Republican Senate leader in November, closing out his reign as the longest serving Senate leader in history for any party. We're told that his fellow GOP senators gave him a standing ovation at their lunch after his announcement today. But even with that show of unity, there's no denying that he's stepping aside after repeatedly butting heads with the now dominant Donald Trump wing of the party and as Republicans grapple with serious divisions on issues like Ukraine and abortion rights. CNN's Manu Raju is on the Hill for us. Manu, what more do we know about this decision?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHO: Yeah, this was a decision that startled many of his own members. Even though this was in some ways not a surprise, it was still surprising at the same time. Given the fact that he is 82 years old, he is running a conference that has grown a faction within his conference has become more aligned with Donald Trump. He has gone crosswise with Donald Trump in the aftermath of January 6th and McConnell for months.

He has not said whether or not he would run again for a Republican leader as he's had health episodes in the past year. So, a lot of members in the Senate had expected this to be his last Congress. But the fact that he is stepping aside would have will have a significant impact on the direction of the Republican Party, given that he has been the one who has driven the direction of this conference for the past almost two decades, being the longest serving party leader in history. Someone who went toe to toe with Barack Obama in the push to enact the Affordable Care Act, someone who held vacant the Supreme Court seat for more than a year that Barack Obama wanted to fill, effectively pushing this to the Supreme Court to the right and helping usher through three of Donald Trump's Supreme Court justices over Democratic outcries over his handling of all that.

But someone who has aligned himself with Democrats in the Biden era, working with Joe Biden to enact the bipartisan infrastructure law, being the only member of the Republican conference in his delegation to support that. Pushing through gun legislation as well, bipartisan deal on that and being a vocal proponent of aid to Ukraine, something that has drawn enormous criticism from his right flank. People who criticize his handling of that issue, but being one of the staunchest advocates in the Republican conference for more aid to Ukraine, putting him on the opposite side of the Speaker of the House on that issue as well.

All of which has lead it to this moment for McConnell, who on the Senate floor earlier today indicated that the politics. within his conference and that that's one reason why he recognizes that it's time for him to step aside. He says that he can read the political tea leaves better than anyone and now is his time to pass it to the next generation. We'll see which leaders ultimately decide to run. Three potential successors could run; John Thune, John Cornyn, John Barrasso but all of them just moments ago would not comment if they decided to if they said they would run to succeed him. Brianna.

KEILAR: Three John's. All right. Manu Raju, thank you so much for that. Let's bring in Republican strategist Doug Heye. Let's talk first about McConnell's legacy. He is, I mean think of obviously people focus on Donald Trump and they think of reshaping the Supreme Court but it was really Mitch McConnell who orchestrated that.

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DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, the first thing I'd say is tenure. He has been in this position for a very long time. The first time I met Mitch McConnell was the first thing after the 2004 elections. I worked for Richard Burr, who had just won the day before. And McConnell hit the ground running, first in North Carolina and then to other states where Republicans had won.

He's been in that position for that long. And clearly part of his legacy is Donald Trump's legislative victories, his judicial appointments. So, if you if you like those, you should like Mitch McConnell. That's not always the case. If you don't like those, Mitch McConnell's quite happy to have you not like him in that case. He alluded to that in his speech.

But sort of the paradox here, Brianna, is if we think about what Donald Trump's key bipartisan legislative achievement was, it's criminal justice reform. That only happened because Mitch McConnell got that through the United States Senate, got behind that effort. Donald Trump doesn't talk about that anymore for a myriad of reasons. But McConnell's been skilled at blocking things. He's been skilled at getting things through as well.

KEILAR: He's very savvy, very skilled. He also is someone who, while he harnessed the energy behind Donald Trump, they were not always completely aligned. He actually provoked a lot of ire, as did his wife of Trump. And I wonder when it comes to Republicans in Congress who feel that they are sort of the caretakers of conservatism, but not always fully aligned with Donald Trump, if you're seeing that kind of scaffolding crumble with his departure.

HEYE: I think potentially so. Obviously, we talk a lot about what Reagan conservatism is and means or meant because the word conservative has really changed in Washington in the past few years. A lot of that is due to Donald Trump's personality and how personality driven so much of this is. What we've seen so often is a lot of legislators or political people are trying always to hustle to score points with Donald Trump. Donald Trump doesn't give points. He only takes them away one at a time.

So, you can get three Supreme Court justices through. You can get a bipartisan bill through. But ultimately, if you if you disagree with Donald on any given day, unless you bend the knee down to him the next time, he doesn't forget it.

KEILAR: Who do you see in the running here? Thune, Cornyn or Barrasso. Of the three Johns who will be in contention?

HEYE: Obviously, we see three. They're all in leadership. There's talk that Rick Scott may run. There's talk that Tom Tillis, also from North Carolina, may run. It's what makes this hard is you have to do real math at this point because you're talking about multiple people. So, it's not one person versus another who gets the most. You have a lot of politicking that's going to happen, and we have a lot of months for it to happen in.

KEILAR: You didn't answer my question.

HEYE: I did not. Very strategically and intentionally.

KEILAR: I'll give you one more shot. No. Who do you think is who do you think has the skills in his position to do it?

HEYE: I think all three have the skills to do it. I'll tell you, Josh Hawley was asked who he supported and he said, John, that's probably a smart answer.

KEILAR: There you go. Well, I guess he's right. Doug, thank you very much. Boris.

SANCHEZ: As if that weren't enough to digest out of Capitol Hill right now, Hunter Biden is being grilled behind closed doors as part of House Republicans impeachment inquiry into his father. The Republican effort could very well hinge on what happens in that room today. But already the two parties are providing diametrically opposed readouts of the proceedings so far. CNN's Paula Reid has been tracking this for us. Paula, get us up to speed with everything that's come out of that room today. PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we only know what's happening inside of that room from our sources and from lawmakers because of this deposition, it's happening behind closed doors. There are no cameras. And as you said, the lawmakers we have heard from, it's as if they weren't even in the same room.

Now, Democratic lawmakers have come down a few times to talk to reporters. They have described this hearing so far as an embarrassing spectacle, a waste of taxpayer resources. And they told us that there so far has been no evidence of treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors. Now, they also suggested that if Republicans really want to investigate corruption, foreign influence peddling, then they should open a bipartisan inquiry. And also look into former president Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

They said that Hunter Biden actually brought up the Kushner comparison during this question-and-answer session, notable since the lawyer who came with him today, Abby Lowell, also formerly represented Jared Kushner. Now, we haven't heard from too many Republican lawmakers since this deposition got underway. Now, Chairman Comer did come out before the deposition. But since then, we've only heard from a few Republicans. Nancy Mace came down. She said that she found Hunter to be defiant and dishonest. But she did say that he not invoke his fifth amendment.

Other lawyers confirmed that as well. That's notable because he is facing two criminal investigations right now. The lawmakers also describe Hunter at times as being frustrated. Boris, in his opening statement, he told the committee that he felt that he was being hunted by Republican lawmakers.

SANCHEZ: Paula, I want to paraphrase something that I read Matt Gaetz say coming out of this meeting. He was asked about the future of the impeachment inquiry, and effectively he said about the future of it that he's not looking at this closed-door deposition through the prism of the future of the inquiry, which I took to mean that at the very best, it's a murky proposition. And this is coming from Matt Gaetz. He's been one of the most vocal people about this inquiry.

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REID: I know. You're exactly right. It was quite surprising to hear him say that, and it speaks to what happens next. I think the most important thing for us, Boris, is we are expected to get a transcript. That was one of the requirements that Hunter and his lawyers had before they'd sit behind closed doors, because they said they were worried Republicans were going to spin and selectively leak what he said. So we're going to get to see a full picture of exactly what happened behind closed doors when we get this transcript.

But then in terms of what happens next, when you have even Matt Gaetz not willing to say next step is impeachment, that is significant and ominous sign for Republicans in terms of what exactly is happening behind closed doors. You also have one of the most powerful Republicans in the land, Mitch McConnell, making a very newsy announcement that is bumping this story sort of further down in the headlines. I'm not saying he did that intentionally to distract from this, but this is a make-or-break moment for the GOP's investigation into President Biden. And at this point, again, we have no evidence so far, no claims that they've really got that smoking gun that has eluded them in their impeachment inquiry so far.

SANCHEZ: We look forward to that transcript. Paula Reid, live from Capitol Hill. Thanks so much, Brianna.

KEILAR: We're joined now by Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. Congressman, thank you for being with us. One of your Republican colleagues in the House, allegedly one who had touted the now discredited information from an FBI informant who was close to Russian intel and is now charged with lying. That colleague of yours characterized Hunter Biden as defiant and dishonest in this closed- door testimony. What's your perspective on how this was?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Gosh, I think I was watching a different deposition. I didn't see that. I saw someone who was more calm. He answered the questions in a forthcoming way. I also saw somebody who -- he just came off as credible. In fact, I distinctly remember, -- see, the way it worked is a lot of us members were sitting in the room and we were sitting next to each other as Republicans and Democrats. We were kind of intermingled. And after one of the answers that he gave, I actually said to my Republican colleague, I thought that was a pretty good answer.

And he shut down the line of questioning and he agreed with me. And I think that that is probably Hunter Biden was probably prepared for the questions. I also say -- I also have to say that he was candid about him being a flawed person.

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KEILAR: Can you tell us the --

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I can't tell you that under the agreement that we entered into today. You'll see it in the transcript hopefully tomorrow.

KEILAR: Okay, so you said he was forthcoming about being a flawed person. Was he was he frustrated ever? I mean, was there a demeanor that could have been perceived as defiant?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think that in his opening remarks, his opening testimony, I think that he used language that would suggest that he didn't want to be there. He thought that this was a attempt to kind of smear him. But I think that during the questioning, as I said before, his answers were forthcoming. He appeared credible, calm and collected.

KEILAR: When you look at this information, the discussion that you're talking about, I think that it's a very, very important The FBI have told the committee earlier that Alexander Smirnoff was a potentially compromised informant or that they had concerns about the veracity of this information. KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yeah, I wish they did, because remember that form that Smirnoff had provided information for was kind of grist for the mill in the kind of opening part of this impeachment inquiry. And if we had known that Smirnoff was potentially a Russian asset, that he was a liar and that he was going to be indicted, I think that would have probably changed the character of the initial proceedings. We're wasting a lot of time here, Brianna, especially when the clock is ticking on a potential government shutdown on Friday. And here we are in a deposition of Hunter Biden on an impeachment of the president that's going nowhere.

KEILAR: It's really alarming to see that kind of information gain legitimacy. It's really alarming to see that kind of information gain legitimacy through the process that we saw in the House of Representatives with Republicans. But Democrats have also fallen for Russian misinformation in the past. I mean, you think of the Steele dossier. That was something that a Democrat had actually put into the congressional record. Do you worry that the environment of this political polarization is such that it is ripe for members of Congress of both parties falling pray to foreign interference like this?

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KRISHNAMOORTHI: Sure. I think this is something that our adversaries are going to try to ramp up in this election year. It's not just the Russians, but also, for instance, the Chinese Communist Party. We know that they will also attempt to interfere in our elections the same way they did in Taiwan at the start of this year. And so we have to be vigilant.

KEILAR: You mentioned Taiwan. You did just go to Taiwan with a congressional delegation. And I wanted to ask you about that because I saw that you'd mentioned that the topic of Ukraine kept coming up. Obviously, aid for Ukraine hung up in the Congress right now. What did you hear in Taiwan about Ukraine?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, gosh, Brianna, they asked about it at every single meeting from the president-elect to the current president. To other leaders. They are very concerned that we are not going to pass the supplemental aid to Ukraine. Why? Because they fear that a failure to provide that aid, -- a failure of the Ukrainians to prevail on the battlefield, will be viewed as an invitation for more aggression potentially by the CCP against Taiwan.

As Secretary Mike Pompeo said at our hearing the other day, if we don't provide this aid to Ukraine, it is not going to be a success. It is not going to be a success. It is going to be a success. It makes war over Taiwan more likely because it could invite aggression. And as Secretary Leon Panetta said, you know, you can't be strong on China and weak in your support of Ukraine.

KEILAR: Do the Taiwanese leaders you spoke with worry that not providing aid for Ukraine is a sign that America will not provide aid for Taiwan in a longstanding, consistent manner?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: They didn't say that explicitly, but I'm sure at the back of their minds, they're thinking that. And I think that that's another reason why we have to pass this because we want to reassure our friends and allies and partners around the world. Remember, at the end of the day, just take Europe, for example. If we don't provide the aid that we want to for the Ukrainians in order for them to succeed, you know, Putin's not going to stop at Ukraine.

He's already talked about Poland. He's already talked about the Baltic states. The Ukrainians are fighting a war so that we don't have to. If the Ukrainians don't prevail, then our people could be embroiled in such a war again in Europe.

KEILAR: Congressman, thank you for being with us. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy, we appreciate your time.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up, firefighters in Texas are racing to contain this huge wildfire that has already burned through an area that is nearly the size of Rhode Island. We have a live report ahead on that. And Republicans are scrambling in the wake of Alabama's controversial state Supreme Court ruling on embryos as protesters gather outside the statehouse demanding access to IVF.

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SANCHEZ: The second largest wildfire that Texas has ever recorded is ravaging the Panhandle right now. The Smokehouse Creek fire is forcing evacuations and destroying homes. It is the biggest wildfire Texas has seen in 18 years. And it grew to that size in just a couple of days because of intense winds. On Tuesday morning, the Smokehouse fire was roughly 40,000 acres. By Wednesday, it was over half a million. It is just one of five fires raging right now with flames jumping into some communities in Oklahoma. Let's get you to the ground in Fritch, Texas now. Lucy Kafanov is there. Lucy, what are you seeing?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, this area was deeply impacted by the fires that roared through here on Tuesday. This area of Fritch, Texas is a population of just over 2,000 people. They were all evacuated when the flames came through. Now, while we are not able to get close to the front lines of the flames, there are still parts of this town that are burning. Some homes were completely flattened and destroyed. We were able to get to one of the locations. We met a neighbor who said it went up crazy fast. Those were his words.

He evacuated. He was able to get it back. His home is still standing, Boris, but across the street, four homes just completely destroyed. They were wooden structures. There's nothing left. So those people will have to rebuild their lives. And this was a scene that was playing out in so many of these rural communities. The flames came so quickly, fueled by those high winds and the really dry conditions. We did see some of the winds go down a little bit today, so that will help in some of those firefighting areas. But because these fires are so vast. And because they're covering such a large amount of ground, they're just simply not able to get on top of them. And we spoke to Adam Turner. He's the PIO of the Texas A&M Forest

Service. And he told me that because of these massive landscapes, it's kind of tough to get this under control. He also said that the danger is not over. The winds have died down. They're going to be down for maybe two, three days, he says. But they will be back this weekend. It will be high winds and dry conditions won again. So, we are not in the clear. I'll end with this, Boris. The one piece of good news. Some structures have been destroyed. No injuries so far that we're aware of, that authorities are aware of. No deaths. Boris.

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SANCHEZ: Yeah, that is a silver lining thus far. Lucy Kafanov live from Fritch, Texas. Thanks so much. Brianna.

KEILAR: Some more fallout over Alabama's controversial IVF decision. Dozens of patients and families rallied outside of the statehouse, demanding lawmakers do more to protect providers and restore IVF services. The state's high court said frozen embryos are human beings, creating potential liabilities if the embryos are destroyed. And now many families are left without access to the treatment. We have CNN's Isabel Rosales outside of the state capital there in Montgomery. Tell us what's happening there.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna, so we had dozens of patients that were in the hospital. We had dozens of patients that were in the hospital. We had doctors, family advocates decked out in orange, holding up signs saying we are here for IVF to support it, to protect it. They came here to the steps of the state house here in Alabama to condemn that state Supreme Court ruling that has effectively shut down IVF treatments at three critical clinics throughout the state.

Also to share how limited their options are and to push these lawmakers to take action to protect IVF. I spoke with Elizabeth Goldman, who has sacrificed a lot. She went through a uterine transplant to become an IVF patient and to carry in her womb her first baby. She wants another one done through IVF. And this is what she had to say, how she's been impacted.

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ELIZABETH GOLDMAN, PROTESTER: I gave up everything for this to chase this dream, to chase, to be on this journey. My whole life right now revolves around IVF and being able to go through one more transfer, have one more pregnancy, have one more baby, and then I'll have a hysterectomy to come off all the transplant meds.

GABBIE PRICE, PROTESTOR: I'm angry. I don't really have a better word for it. I'm upset and I'm hurt not only for myself, but for the hundreds of other families. I consider myself pretty lucky because we hadn't started our process yet. And because of the insurance that I have, we do have the option to go out of state if that's necessary, even though that's not what we want to do. Many other couples do not have that option.

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ROSALES: And that last woman was Gabby Price. She downsized her home to camper in order to afford IVF. She switched jobs to get access to fertility benefits. And she says those benefits were set to start March 1st. And just now in the last couple of days, she heard that ruling from the Supreme Court. So she is in limbo here, awaiting the next steps and so desperate for lawmakers to take action.

KEILAR: Yeah. Those are a lot of people with the futures of their families up in the air. Isabel, thank you for that report. Coming up, new developments, in the criminal investigation into the botched police response to the Uvalde school massacre, who's testifying and what we might learn here ahead. And the mayor of New York City wants to make a major shift in how the city handles undocumented immigrants. We'll have details next.

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